SWANSBORO — Dave Perry didn’t hesitate at all going for the win and not settling for another overtime.

The Croatan coach’s gamble paid off as Marshall Judon’s 2-point conversion run in overtime lifted the Cougars to a 14-13 victory over Swansboro on Friday night in the East Central 2-A Conference opener for both teams.

Croatan got to within 13-12 on Kyle Hopewell’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Smith. It didn’t take long for Perry and his team to decide they were going for 2 and not an extra point kick that potentially would have sent the game into a second overtime.

“We were on the sideline and all the coaches were saying go for 2,” Perry said. “It was so wet, which made it so hard to handle the (extra point) snap. They were like, ‘Let’s go for 2’ and I said ‘All right.’”

Judon, a running back, lined up at quarterback, took the snap, rolled to his right and ran into the end zone to win it for Croatan (3-1, 1-0). He had a receiver open on the right side but decided to run it in himself after seeing an opening.

“I saw (Swansboro’s DeAndre Thompkins). He’s a great athlete, and I just had to (pump fake the ball) and get into the end zone,” Judon said. “It was an option. I knew we could do it.”

And the Pirates knew what was coming once Croatan lined up for the 2-point conversion, Swansboro coach Tim Laspada said.

“We knew what they were going to do, but our outside linebacker bit hard instead of going to the flat area,” said Laspada, whose team fell to 3-2, 0-1 and visits undefeated Northside next week. “He (Perry) went for 2 and won it. I didn’t think he would go for 2. It was a great call.”

And because Perry’s gutsy move went in Croatan’s favor, the Cougars not only avenged last year’s 27-20 overtime loss to the Pirates, they also picked up a win to open league play.

“It’s a huge win,” Perry said. “It’s a rivalry game for our kids and it gives them some pride and bragging rights for a year. The conference thing is important. Clinton comes to us next week and we get a chance to open 2-0 in the conference.

“If we do that, we would be in good shape down the road.”

While Judon’s 2-point conversion run was the play of the game, it wouldn’t have happened if not for a clutch touchdown catch by Smith in overtime.

Facing a third-and-goal from the 13, Croatan quarterback rolled a little to his right before lofting a pass over a Swansboro defender. Smith, running diagonally toward the right corner of the end zone, extended his body for the catch.

“I didn’t know I’d get to it,” Smith said. “I got a left hand and then a right hand on it and got my feet in.”

Smith’s catch came moments after Hopewell was sacked for a 3-yard loss on first down before he threw an incomplete pass on second down.

“The good thing about this team is we got 15 seniors. They are good kids and intelligent kids,” Perry said. “They will fight as hard as they can. We knew we had a chance.”

That’s even after the Pirates took a 13-6 lead in the top half of overtime when Thompkins scored on a 3-yard run before Jacob Lemasters added the extra point kick.

“We were still confident,” Judon said. “We knew what we had to do.”

With the game tied 6-6, Swansboro gave itself a chance to win with 49 seconds left in regulation when the Pirates’ Mike Posney recovered a fumble at the Croatan 27-yard line. Thompson then ran for 19 yards to the 8.

However, a last-second field goal attempt on second down was never kicked as the Pirates bobbled the snap, resulting in a 7-yard loss. Swansboro’s field goal team hurried back in formation and holder Kyle Lundgren downed the ball to stop the clock with 1 second left.

The officials, though, ruled it an illegal pass, resulting in the end of regulation after a 10-second run-off.

“That was huge that we didn’t get in,” Laspada said. “I’m not blaming our kids. I should have set it up better than that.”

The Pirates’ lead in overtime wasn’t their only lead.

Swansboro took a 6-0 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Chris Martin. The Pirates didn’t get the point after touchdown kick off after a bobbled snap.

The Cougars responded with a 7-play, 73-yard drive that took just 2:47 and was assisted by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on Swansboro that moved the ball to the Pirates’ 33 following a 22-yard reception by Beau Bryan.

The Cougars capped the drive when Hopewell threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Smith with 8:26 left in the fourth quarter.

Bryan had a 30-yard catch to the Pirates 7 moments earlier.

“They (Pirates) were so worried about the running game, they were playing people up,” Smith said. “We got great receivers.”

Hopewell, who completed his first 5 passes, finished 12 of 24 for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“They (Cougars) run good routes and their quarterback threw it well,” Laspada said. “We didn’t defend it as well as I thought.”

In the losing effort, Thompkins finished with 146 yards rushing on 21 carries. He had 100 yards after halftime, but was unable to break for many long runs.